


To catch a cloud and pin it down

by Caprica_Janeway



Category: Major Crimes (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-29 08:37:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5121857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caprica_Janeway/pseuds/Caprica_Janeway
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma’s vacation time is cut short with an unexpected visit from Andrea Hobbs, and an offer to prove her worth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. How I Met Your Mother

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set a month after the events of season 3. There are a total of six chapters, and I will be trying to upload one per day. The story primarily features Emma and Andrea, but also some of our other faves as well. It can be viewed as a sequel to 'How do I solve a problem like Rios?' but you don't need to read that story in order to follow this one. There aren't any pairings featured, but I write in a way where if you want to find subtext you will - enjoy!

Nowhere in her job description did it ask Andrea Hobbs to exchange glares with an apathetic bloodhound, yet this was her current predicament.

She had tried the usual requests of 'scoot' and arm waving, but it just gave her the appearance of a person poorly trained in air traffic control. The dog watched her sway her arms to the left and right, occasionally offering a wrinkled look of puzzlement before dropping its head back to the porch. She begun to question whether anything would entice movement from the old creature. All he did was stare at her, and intermittently pant as a way of breaking their gaze.

She sighed to herself and raised a disapproving eyebrow at the old dog as she pulled her phone from her bag.

"Don't bother, your hand signals gave you away from the kitchen."

A casually dressed Emma Rios in jeans and purple sweater opened the front door of the bungalow.

"Herbie, Herbie! Move your big butt inside right this instant," she called.

"Herbie? Like the car?" Andrea asked. She watched in wonderment as the dog shifted one old leg after the other, and waddled slowly to the door.

"Car? What car?" Emma asked, helping manoeuvre the dog's back legs through the door.

Andrea just rolled her eyes and followed them both into the kitchen.

"He looks like my Uncle Herb, so I named him Herbie."

Andrea watched the dog find a toy which he began to chew on as he unceremoniously planted himself on the tiles.

"I'm hoping your Uncle doesn't drool as much as this guy," replied Andrea, walking carefully passed the dog whose large mass had turned her walk to the table into an obstacle course.

"I'd ask what you're doing here, but the four text messages and three emails made it quite clear."

"And you didn't think to answer them?"

"I'm on leave. You might want to try it you know. Daytime television gives you fascinating insights into the human mind."

Andrea wasn't convinced. She watched Emma stretch a rubber band between her fingers. Her nails were in need of a manicure. It was something she knew Emma was particular about, and while a little leeway in professional grooming could be seen as a good thing from time to time, Emma's defensive posturing was saying something else. "When are you coming back to work?" she asked.

"Emma! You have a friend!"

_Grrrrrr._

Andrea's gaze darted from the older woman that had entered the room to Herbie who was now growling at his toy.

_Squeak!_

"Herbie, squeaky toys are for outside play." Emma said, standing up and taking the old toy off the dog and passing him a small rope with a ball attached. He looked at the toy and then at Emma. "I bought you this one last week Herb, remember? You and Robert played with it."

He raised an eye at her and nudged the ball and rope with his nose so it rolled down the step and to Andrea's feet. Andrea leant down to pick it up and heard a glass being planted on the table next to her.

"You're Andrea Hobbs aren't you?"

Andrea looked from Emma to the older woman she assumed to be Emma's mother, then back to Emma again. She had become so distracted by the disappointed look on Herb's face that she had completely forgotten about her entrance.

"Mom, Andrea. Andrea, Mom - ah I mean Maria," Emma added.

"I thought it was you!" Maria said clasping her hands together. "She speaks very highly of you."

"She does?" the surprised tone in Andrea's voice didn't register with Maria.

Andrea looked over at Emma who was busy downing a tall glass of orange juice.

"Emma! Why don't you ask your friend Andrea over for dinner? You never bring your friends over any more."

"Oh god." Emma replied.

Andrea took the drink Emma's mother handed her and decided to busy herself by drinking it.

"Nonsense my girl. I like to meet all your friends, boyfriends... Girlfriends."

Andrea chocked on her drink causing Herbie to come to her side in concern.

"We aren't…" they began in unison, though Andrea struggled to get her voice right from choking earlier.

"She's a work colleague," Emma stepped in. "…an advisor I guess."

Andrea was finally able to cough and clear her throat, nodding at Emma's assessment of the situation.

"Oh, if that's the case then maybe you can get this lazy lay-about out of my house." Emma's mother said as she threw a dish towel over her shoulder. As Maria turned around to leave the room, Emma shuddered as she heard her mother begin to sing a very off-key version of Funky Town.

.

* * *

.

Sharon sighed loudly as the radio skipped from one loud obnoxious sound to the next. A tranquil piano melody was how Sharon would prefer to start her day, but unfortunately she didn't have control of the radio, and Rusty was being incredibly indecisive. He generally knew what he wanted to eat, how he wanted to spend his free time, and what he wanted to wear, however the boy was extremely finicky when it came to choosing any form of multimedia. If he wasn't flicking the channels on the TV, he was jumping from station to station looking for the perfect song to listen to.

"Rusty it's almost 8 o'clock, you aren't going to find anything but ads playing until the news airs. You might as well turn the volume down or play something through your phone."

Normally he could get away with a little more channel surfing before she'd shake her head in amusement and turn the radio off. Today was different, her posture was all wrong. While she was never prone to slouching at the wheel she was never this stiff. Her arms were so tight it appeared as if her hands were almost cemented to the wheel.

"Ok Sharon, what would you like to listen to?"

While her arms remained tight, her gaze no longer seemed to be piercing a hole in the car in front of them, and he could see her eyes start to soften. "I don't suppose you have any Mendelssohn?"

"Umm I'd like to say I know who that is, but according to some people my music knowledge is quite limited. I only just got introduced to that band The Village People. Apparently they are quite well known. I don't suppose you want to listen to YMCA?"

Sharon didn't need to say anything, her eyebrows replied for her.

"You know we didn't need to take the same car today. I can drive myself to the library. I'm only going to have to take the bus home later because you'll still be at work."

"And you could always join me in the office after you're done." She replied.

Rusty sighed. He looked out the passenger window at some teenagers crossing the road. Sharon followed his line of sight and watched as he began to lean his head against his hand.

"Is it so bad that I want to spend time with you? I don't insist on driving you everyday. I like our Monday's together."

"You seem quite tense around me for someone who is enjoying themselves. Is there something I should know?"

Sharon saw the green light and put her car into gear. For the last few months she had struggled with her concerns for his safety. This situation wasn't like it was before, there was a very specific threat out there that while he seemed keen to forget, she just didn't have that luxury. Even if she wanted to move on, she physically couldn't. It didn't help that a big part of her felt responsible for Stroh's escape. She hated the thought that yet again Rusty's safety was once again threatened, and she wondered how long he could maintain the appearance that everything is fine when she was frequently troubled by disruptive dreams.

"Nothing has changed, at least nothing in regards to your situation."

He seemed satisfied with her vague response, and on some level that bothered her. He needed to be concerned. While it was important for him to live his life with a sense of normalcy, he also needed to remain vigilant. So moving on from the most pressing dilemma, she decided to ask about the other issue playing on her mind.

"So just who introduced you to The Village People?"

.

* * *

.

"What on earth is that noise?" Andrea asked. She dropped her folder on the bench, and put her hands to her ears. "Is that disco? Is that what I'm hearing right now?" she asked Emma, watching the younger woman race to close the kitchen door. Emma's face was screwed up in disgust as she nodded and walked back to the kitchen bench.

_...In the navy... you can sail the seven seas..._

Now that the door was closed Andrea removed her hands from her ears and studied Emma closely. She was looking through the kitchen draws for something, and with each draw she looked through she became more impatient.

"It's my mother. She always seems to do house work at this time of day."

"To The Village People?"

"The Village People, The Bee Gees, ABBA - anything with a connection to the 70s I think. We should go. We can discuss your proposal once we can hear again. ...Ah here it is!" Emma said as she pulled out a dark red dog lead from the draw.

Andrea didn't know what was more unbelievable - Emma's mother playing loud disco music while she had guests, or the idea that Emma's dog was even capable of exercise.

"You're going to walk your dog— that dog?" Andrea asked looking over at Herbie who was licking his front paw.

The dog seemed to be aware people were talking about him, so he piped up his face in interest. Andrea tilted her head to the side to examine for herself what kind of success they would have in even encouraging the dog to a standing position. She wasn't hopeful but then she noticed Emma standing beside her jangling the lead in the dog's direction.

It was almost as if the healing hand of God had descended and woken Herbie from a long period of infirmity. His legs bolstered with an unseen energy that pushed him from the floor, and he shook his head back and forth loosening the heavy burden of age from his joints. He stood with his tail wagging, and looked back and forth between the two women. While Emma put the lead on the dog, Andrea reluctantly picked up her folder and placed it back in her bag.  
"Alright, let's see how far this old dog of yours can walk."

Emma passed Andrea the lead and opened the kitchen door. "Mom, we're taking the dog for a walk, we'll be home later!"  
Andrea squinted as the sounds of The Bee Gees came blasting through the door.  
"Alright we can go."  
"What?!" Andrea asked rubbing her ear.  
"We can go now." Emma repeated.

Andrea wasn't sure why she was stuck holding the dog's lead, nor did she understand why the dog was now keen to walk. But she didn't really have much experience with dogs. The closest she'd come to owning a pet was looking after her aunt's goldfish when she was a child, and that experience didn't end well. It took Rios until they reached the neighbour's house to realise Andrea was still walking the dog while trying to balance her heavy leather tote on her shoulders.

"Oh god, sorry," Emma said, taking the lead.

Andrea looked over at Emma while readjusting the bag on her shoulders. "You know you never answered my question."

"Which one?" she asked.

Andrea knew avoidance when she saw it, and her patience was starting to wear thin.

"I want to know when you're coming back to work. I'm not exactly privy to whatever arrangement you have with HR, and you weren't exactly forthcoming when I asked the question earlier."

Herbie began to pant, and Emma ushered him over to a bowl of water left out for one of her neighbours dogs.

"I couldn't answer your question in front of my mother. I haven't had a full weeks leave since I started this job and besides, my mother needs me."

Andrea wasn't buying it. Nothing about her mother's appearance indicated a woman needing anything, except maybe a hearing aid so she'd turn down that music of hers. "Not to be presumptuous, but from all appearances your mother doesn't appear to need you."

Emma noticed Herbie had stopped drinking and gently pulled on his lead so they could continue walking again. "My mother isn't in the habit of admitting to what she needs."

Andrea took a breath and looked down at the dog again. He was still managing to walk without assistance, but she wondered for how long. "I'm starting a new mentoring program and came here today, because I need your help with it." Emma looked like she wanted to say something but Andrea continued. "The nature of our work — the deadlines, budgetary restrictions, and a whole host of other problems you are no doubt familiar with - have meant that our department has missed key opportunities in training younger DDA's in some of the least discussed aspects of our work."

Emma stopped suddenly, giving Herbie the perfect opportunity to slump on the footpath.

"What areas of training are you referring to?"

Andrea ran her teeth over the edge of her lips. "Well…knowledge of the law and local procedures are important, but the application of them requires a certain type of natural diplomacy."

"Diplomacy?" Emma looked down at Herbie and gently tugged on his lead to get him to move again.

"Well, it's just that some people are just more attuned to working with others, and some need more guidance—"

Emma loosened her hold on the lead and placed her hands on her hips. "Why do I feel like you're talking about me here?"

"Do you always think everything is about you?"

"Your tone is leading me to assume that—"

"Hold up," Andrea raised her hands. "I'm asking for your help here. You are familiar with the various departments of the LAPD, as well as the local county offices, and you have experience in dealing with their more difficult personalities…" Emma tilted her head and sighed. "…I just think, that maybe you'd like the opportunity to teach someone else what you've learnt."

Emma wasn't bothering with eye contact anymore. She had found herself looking past Andrea to her friend's garden across the street. She hadn't expected this offer, she had assumed the talk Andrea had wanted to have was going to be about Philip Stroh. In her absence it was Andrea who was left to look after that particular mess.

"Have you… have you talked to Rusty recently?" Emma asked.

"Not directly, but I get updates — he's doing fine. Captain Raydor though, she's a little…"

"Highly strung? Annoyed?" Emma tried answering for her.

"Worried, I guess." Andrea bent down and patted Herbie who seemed to perk up a little at the attention, but not enough to actually get off the pavement. "I've been trying to reduce my casework so I can focus on the mentoring program — not completely, but I do feel this is important, and I would like your help on this."

Emma looked down at Andrea who squatted beside the dog. She was pleased they had made it to the end of the block, but she also knew that the dog wasn't going to walk much further. "What would you need me to do?"

Andrea scratched the dog behind the ears and stood up. "On Monday I'm assigning a junior DDA to observe the processes of the Major Crimes department, and I'd like you there to facilitate the learning process. They're pretty green, but all the ones I've been sent lately are, and while I don't want them taking on any cases, I do want them to see how the relationship dynamics work in that department."

Emma scoffed a little at the phrase 'relationship dynamics'. "So basically you're assigning me to teach Provenza 101."

Andrea shrugged her shoulders, and tipped her head to the side.

"I'd still be working the case?" Emma asked.

"Correct. Your protege would just be there in an observers role. You show them the ropes, answer their questions, and assign them basic duties."

"Monday then." Emma repeated.

"Monday." Andrea echoed.

Herbie made a sound somewhere between a growl and a pant, and slumped his head to the pavement. In one synchronous movement, they looked down at the old dog. Andrea observed he now had the same enthusiasm for movement as he did when they first met.

Emma sighed, and looked behind Andrea. Seeing a familiar face across the road she lifted her arm and waved enthusiastically. Her friend upon seeing her nodded, and started wheeling across a red wheelbarrow.

Andrea looked between Emma and the neighbour, and nodded in greeting to Emma's neighbour as he parked the wheelbarrow beside the ageing dog. Andrea looked down at the wheelbarrow, across to Emma, then over to Herbie again. The dog didn't appear to be any more forthcoming then Emma was.

"You're going to have to lift with your knees." Emma said, bending down to Herbie's side.

Andrea opened her mouth to say something, but the dog let out his own frustrated sigh on her behalf. Taking a deep breath, she moved around the dog so she could get a better look at his face. From the behaviour of Emma's neighbour, and the enthusiasm Emma showed in their arrival, she figured Herbie's sudden drop in momentum was a frequent occurrence. Maybe the old dog could get out of the house with a little encouragement, but beyond a few houses he lacked the will to go any further.

Transporting a large mammal in a wheelbarrow wasn't exactly a situation she was familiar with outside the grounds of a frat boy residence, but she figured that the neighbourhood must be accustomed to this particular arrangement.

Bending down, she scratched the old dog's ears, and looked up at Emma.

"I'll take the front."

.

.

...to be continued.


	2. The Idiot Equation

"Idiot, idiot, moron, another idiot - oh and this one redefines what it means to be an asshole."

Andy laid out a series of photos onto Andrea's desk. Each photo was of a suspect they hadn't convicted, but which had some connection to other criminal cases Andrea had been working on. Andy took great pride in being as articulate as possible so Andrea could easily determine which of these idiots she could negotiate with.

"The idiots you can work with. They're dumb enough to give something up, but not stupid enough to spill the plan to their friends. The moron is a lost cause though. He might give you something, but he breaks under the slightest bit of pressure, and you might spend a good part of the afternoon listening to his sob stories."

"What about the asshole?" Andrea asked. She picked up the picture and walked around her desk to the small table beside the window.

Andy followed suit and sat opposite her at the table as she set up a chessboard. "The asshole could snitch on the entire operation if you play your cards right, but he skips around the truth a lot, and within two minutes of sitting with the guy you'll understand why he's the asshole."

Andrea passed the picture back to Andy, and looking at the chessboard she began to assign each piece to the board based on notes from the small book beside her.

"The pawn was two spaces back I believe." Andy said. "The thing is, while it's requires a little extra time, personally I'd go through one or maybe both of the idiots. You don't want to be dealing with assholes at this stage of the game, and frankly the guy doesn't deserve a deal."

"Alright, I'll look over their case files and get back to you." Andrea replied.

Andy nodded and looked over the chessboard as Andrea put the last piece in place.

"So who are you waiting for this time?" Andrea asked.

"Judge Reywood. The man has a pile of warrants on his desk that reach his nose." Andy replied, scratching his head while he tried to remember the move he was going to make. Andy hovered his hand between a pawn and a rook, but seemed undecided.

"You're becoming predictable Lieutenant."

"I am?" He looked down at the board again. "I am aren't I?" Realising his error.

"You always try to use your rooks on the offensive and end up losing them too early in the game."

Andy slumped his head into his hand, but was distracted from his thoughts when he heard the door knock.

"Come in." Andrea said.

Emma opened the door, looked around, and tilted her head slightly when she saw Andrea sitting with Lieutenant Flynn beside a chessboard.

"Ah, am I interrupting something?" she asked, as she made her way to the table.

Andrea looked at Emma and noticed her nails had been manicured and she was dressed in an elegant, but appropriate knee length beige dress. She looked good — if a little confused.

"Lieutenant Flynn has been updating me on a list of suspects he was compiling that may be useful on one of our other cases." Andrea said.

"While playing chess?" Emma asked.

"I'm waiting for Judge Reywood to sign a warrant for this latest murder, but you know how long he takes to do anything." Andy added.

"Right, but chess? I didn't think that was your kind of thing Lieutenant."

Andrea stood up and returned to her desk. She picked up a manilla file and handed it to Rios. "Here are the details of your observing DDA, Thomas O'Reilly. I've sent him over there this morning—"

"For this murder the Lieutenant is talking about? I thought you wanted me to introduce him to everyone." Emma interrupted.

"I do, well at least I did, but as you can see from Lieutenant Flynn being here, they've caught this case quite early this morning, and I wanted to ensure DDA O'Reilly saw what was involved even before we're usually called in."

"Murder isn't a 9 to 5 occupation Rios. Believe me, we'd all prefer it if they were considerate enough to stick to normal working hours." Andy interjected.

Emma pursed her lips and watched the Lieutenant go back to musing over his next move.

"You could have called me to—" Emma was interrupted as Lieutenant Flynn's phone began to ring.

"Yeah hang on a minute," Andy said to Emma, noting Provenza's name appearing on his screen. "Andrea, I gotta take this, I think our game might have to be put on hold again."

Andrea nodded her head and went to pick up her office phone. Emma moved over to her desk and stood quietly while she waited to find out what was going on. While Andrea flipped through a series of call extensions she watched the younger woman with interest.

"How's Herbie doing?" she asked tapping the side of the phone with her fingernails.

Emma seemed to relax on hearing the dog's name and she noticed a momentary softness slip into Andrea's voice when she mentioned him. Leaning back on her heels slightly, Emma discussed the way Herbie's squeaky toy could now only make short high pitched squealing noises since he gnawed a hole through the plastic duck.

Andrea twisted her mouth in amusement as she imagined the old dog and his toy. "Yes I'll hold," she said sighing into the phone.

"Alright Rios, grab your bag, we're needed back at the office." Andy said as he popped back in again.

"What happened?" she asked.

"It looks like the newbie needs some legal advice. I think he sat on Provenza's desk, or something equally horrific. Whatever it is, the old guy is making a fuss and demands the presence of someone qualified - immediately." Andy replied.

"Lieutenant, I'll see if I can push Judge Reywood to expedite your warrant, and I'll get it over to you shortly. Emma, good luck with Thomas, let me know if there are any problems."

"Is there something I should know about this guy?" Emma asked.

Andrea just smiled and mouthed the word 'diplomacy' as she turned in her chair. "Well it's about time." She was heard uttering as Emma and Andy left her office.

.

* * *

.

"Where have you been?" Provenza blasted as he saw his partner and Emma Rios enter the office. "It doesn't take more than 15 minutes to walk from the DA's office to here."

Andy rolled his eyes at the older gentlemen and pushed a coffee cup in his direction. "We were picking up coffee and figured you might want one. But if you are going to be an ungrateful ass about it, than I'll just give it to someone else."

Provenza sighed, took the cup and then pointed a finger at Rios. "You should have been here two hours ago."

"I didn't know there was a case two hours ago. Where's Mr O'Reilly?" Emma asked.

"He's in with the Captain explaining something I'm sure you're familiar with by now."

"What are you referring to Lieutenant?" Emma asked moving her hands to her hips.

"He received vital information of a potential threat to the life of our witness, and he chose not to share it with the rest of us."

Andy walked in front of Emma and put a hand in front of his partner. "Hey calm down alright. Have your coffee and sit down for a bit. She didn't know he was coming here early. Geez."

The commotion must have made it's way to the Captain's office as Emma could see her standing up and peering through the blinds before she opened the door in a flurry.

"Emma," Sharon said as she adjusted her jacket.

"Captain Raydor, it's good to—"

"This is your new observer I believe - Mr O'Reilly. He says you haven't met yet." Sharon interrupted.

"That's correct. D.D.A. Hobbs thought that—"

"I know what D.D.A. Hobbs intentions were, but in future I don't think your observers should be coming into a situation where they are unsupervised." Sharon continued.

Emma looked over at Thomas O'Reilly who wisely stood at a distance from the Captain while she swiftly laid down her disdain at the current situation. He was young - possibly mid-twenties, but it was hard to tell. He was tall, but his suit appeared far too large for his wiry frame and he stood at a strange angle, almost hunched over.

"Captain I get it, and had I have known I would have come down sooner and—" Emma looked to her side at Thomas who now busy readjusting the lint in his pockets.

Sharon took in a noticeable breath and also found her own hands reaching for her pockets before changing her mind and leaving them at her side.

Emma looked between the young man at her side and the steely Captain in front of her, while she hesitantly continued, "— maybe this isn't the place for this discussion."

The quiet then hung in the air, and Emma became reluctant to look away from the Captain. She was battling between her fear and her stubbornness. A silent Sharon Raydor had a unique paralysing effect on Emma that welded her feet to the ground. Every other part of her wanted to run, and in a way she was grateful she couldn't move, because she knew her ego would be disappointed if she did.

"Ah, should I come back another time?" Rusty asked, causing everyone in the room including Thomas to turn in his direction. No one had heard him enter apparently, and while Rusty had missed the discussion, he was present for the silence. He noticed Provenza wasn't leaning back in his chair like he did when they were musing over the details of a case, and Flynn seemed momentarily paralysed as he clutched a tray of coffee. He wasn't sure who the new guy was, but he'd never seen Emma look so white, or his mother so agitated.

"Hi Em," he managed to utter, while one of his hands raised in an awkward attempt at a wave.

Emma raised her chin a little higher and tried to swallow something. "Rusty hi, I ah haven't seen you in a while. Still playing chess?" she asked.

 _Oh yeah this was normal_ , Rusty thought as he walked past the two Lieutenants and stood next to Sharon and Emma. "Yeah, you know, when I get time in between college and life…and stuff."

Emma tilted her head to the side and pulled her bottom lip in like she was carefully navigating her way past a thorny bush. Looking over to Rusty she attempted a smile and nodded in reply.

"Ah, Captain," Andy begun, eager to break the silence. "…we brought everyone coffee. Maybe while everyone has a coffee break Emma can take Mr O'Reilly here into the break room and they can catch up."

The Captain adjusted her glasses and turned to Andy, noticing for the first time that he appeared to have a picked up a drinks tray. She looked over at Rios, appearing as if she was waiting for the younger woman to say something. Walking over to Andy, she took a coffee from the tray he was holding. "Thank you Andy, but I have a suspect to speak to. Lieutenant Provenza, if you could join me in Interview room 2, and lets hope Mr Rollins has something to say to us now."

"Yes, Captain." Provenza replied. He picked up his jacket and coffee cup as he breezed past Emma and Andy, and glared at O' Reilly on his way to the interview room.

Emma mouthed the words 'Thank you' to Andy as they watched the Captain leave. Rusty looked between the two of them trying to ascertain just what had occurred but at the same time not wanting to ask.

"So Lieutenant Flynn, you didn't happen to pick me up a coffee did you?" Rusty asked.

"Ah," Lieutenant Flynn said as he broke from his reverie and looked down at the drinks tray. "I ah, sure" he replied, passing Rusty the coffee he was going to drink. As Rusty took the drink Andy suddenly remembered something. "Say Rusty, I don't suppose you have a bit of time this morning to help me with something?"

Rusty took a sip and shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, I guess. I mean what did you need?"

"I just need 5 mins. You and me, and a chessboard - before your mother gets back ."

Rusty raised an eyebrow and shrugged his shoulders, "Sure, I mean I'm not the one in the middle of a murder investigation here."

Andy smiled at the kid and let him lead the way to his study cubicle.

It was just Emma and Thomas left in the murder room and she suddenly didn't feel like her coffee anymore. She walked over to Andy's desk and placed it back in the drinks tray and turned around to look at Thomas again. He had abandoned his pockets and had decided on tipping his neck to the side in a partial attempt to crack his neck.

"Right then Mr O'Reilly, I guess we have a lot of catching up to do."

He nodded, but didn't speak. So she put her hand out to him to offer a handshake. He looked at her, then her hand, then back at her again. She leaned her head forward slightly, and he took her hand with a little more enthusiasm than she expected.

"Well then, I'm Emma Rios, and as someone well-versed in irritating Captain Raydor, I suggest you follow me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You’ll notice my Sharon is a little agitated here. As this story is set only a month after season 3 I figure her frustration at what happened is still fresh. She’s a professional, but even her sleep-deprived self has limits. 
> 
> Also there will be a delay of one day on the next chapter as I no doubt am going to be too distract/excited about the new episode to concentrate on editing. Thank god the hiatus is over though :)


	3. The Food and the Furious

"If you'd like to follow me Ms Hobbs, you can take a seat in the waiting room and Mr Boyden will be with you shortly."

Andrea hadn't met this new secretary of Billy's before. Prior to two years ago, he'd never so much as shared an office with anyone. Her mentor had always been quite particular about his social arrangements. During most of the day he would shut himself off from his friends and colleagues as much as possible, and as soon as a case was completed he would come out of his cocoon and become an exuberant social butterfly. He seemed incapable of finding a middle ground, but the new young brunette filing his paper work, and his new role as an advisor to the District Attorney seemed to indicate a recent change in his behaviour.

"Andrea!" Billy exclaimed as he came around the corner.

Before she had a chance to completely stand up, Billy with his broad set shoulders and bulky frame took her hand and pulled her into a tight embrace. "It's good to see you Addy," he said as he pulled back from her and playfully tapped her shoulder.

"It's good to see you too Billy. I assume you received my messages? I've been trying to book some time with you for over a month now."

"Yeah," Billy replied, looking down at the carpet and scratching the back of his neck. "Your boss has been keeping me busy. Politics, who knew it could be so boring, hey?"

Andrea nodded. "I'm afraid I'm here to bore you too. I have my own questions about Mr Bradac I was hoping you could help me with."

Billy's smile was one of restrained amusement. He had known Andrea for years and before Andrea, he knew her Uncle, Geoffrey Hobbs a leading statesman of California. It had been Geoffrey who had been the one to encourage a young Andrea, or Addy as he affectionately called her, into joining the bar.

"You dear Addy, could never bore me — however I feel we need a change of scenery. Toban's grill?"

"It's only 11 o'clock Bill."

"But it's 12 o'clock when I'm paying right?" Billy asked, extending his arm to the door.

Andrea nodded at her lively friend as she smiled reluctantly at his mischievous grin.

"I'll go, but when we're out don't call me Addy."

Billy smiled and offered a mock salute as Addy, or should he say Andrea, walked past.

.

* * *

.

"So you overheard the suspect on the phone transferring money for a hit, and you didn't think to tell anyone about it?" Emma asked, clasping her hands in front of her as she leant against the table.

"It's more complicated than that Ms Rios," he replied.

"Please call me Emma. When you use that tone Ms Rios sounds like a school teacher you're trying to apologise to."

Thomas flexed his entwined fingers back and forth, accidentally cracking his knuckles at one point which caused them both to noticeably wince.

"Sorry," he replied.

Emma wasn't sure what to think of Thomas. Apart from the knuckle cracking he was very quiet, and he seemed to lack the required confidence, or at least the appearance of confidence that most lawyers wore. She wasn't sure if his current demeanour was a reflection of his personality or a sign of remorse.

"Do you drink tea?" she asked.

"What?" he replied looking up from his own hands.

"When I went back to the murder room I think I picked up Lieutenant Provenza's coffee by accident and it's far too bitter for me."

"He's not going to be happy about that. But I guess it gives him someone else to be annoyed with." he replied, turning around to watch Emma look for some clean mugs.

Emma poured two cups of tea and brought them back to the table. She didn't wait to hear how he liked his tea, or if he even wanted a one, but she slid one over to him any way.

"You want to know a secret?" Emma asked as she leaned in over their mugs.

"What?" he replied, leaning in with her.

"Some people enjoy being grumpy." Emma kept her focus on Thomas and watched as his eyes fluttered with amusement until it reached his mouth, and the twitching of a smile began to appear.

"Well now that I've revealed one vital secret from Major Crimes it's time you offered one of your own. What stopped you from sharing what you heard?"

.

* * *

.

"I hate pickles," Andrea said as she pushed them off her burger and left them on the side of her plate.

"Yet you never ask for them to be left off." Billy poked the pickles with his fork and added them to his plate.

Andrea sighed as she looked up at her grinning friend. "If I did that, what would be left for you to steal off my plate?"

"I don't know, those fries to your right look mighty promising" he replied moving his fork towards them. But before his fork could reach the fries, Andrea carefully turned her plate so his fork hit the side of her ketchup bowl.

"Touche".

"So Emma is back at work today," Andrea said swirling her straw around her glass.

"Oh? I guess that would explain the frequent glances you've made towards your phone for the last twenty minutes." he replied.

"Sorry," Andrea said as she slid her phone back in her bag.

Their conversation had maintained a light tone from their arrival to the restaurant, through to their ordering, and eventual eating of the meal. But she could sense by the way Billy often leaned in, that he was curious to know exactly what she wanted to talk about.

"For someone so eager to speak to me for the last few weeks, you've had very little to say." he said.

"I'm curious about this new job of yours. You are working side by side with a man who I rarely see, but has complete control over the direction of my job. I don't understand how someone can issue decrees to his employees from a far, and never have more than five minutes for them."

"Really Andrea? You've never worked much with anyone with a background in Internal Affairs? They are all decrees and paperwork, their people skills are somewhat lacking."

Andrea raised her eyebrows and leant back in her chair. She could say a few things about working with people from Internal Affairs but this wasn't the time or place for that conversation. She sighed to herself thinking about her current boss Louis Bradac. She could count on her hand the amount of times she had seen her boss, let alone had meetings with him. He seemed to function through a series of mouth pieces in suits, all of which were frequently scuttering the halls of the DA's office like lost children.

"I'm tired I guess. Frustrated, how little control I have over my own work." She could admit that to him, he was one of the few people she felt comfortable in airing her work grievances with. He would listen knowing what she was trying to say, and without pushing he managed to provide an in for her to actually say it.

"You've never really been in a position to have complete control over you work. There's a reason it's bothering you more now than before." he replied, pouring more water into their glasses.

"We receive directives, and we aren't given the opportunity to question them. There is no proper line of communication"

"Go on," he prompted.

"If Bradac knew that a deal was the likely outcome for Stroh, then why did he keep pushing the death penalty? He put Emma, myself, and the whole squad in a very difficult, and potentially dangerous situation."

"Maybe we should order some dessert."

.

* * *

.

"Cake? I'm not hungry," Sharon said sliding the carrot cake back to Emma, who had taken it upon herself to lean obstructively on her desk.

"If you want to talk to me can we at least eat something? I've had nothing but coffee and tea all day, and I haven't seen you so much as look at food."

Sharon looked at the younger woman from above her glasses, and sighed as she slid the cake back in front of her. She pointed a finger to the chair across from her, and Emma took a seat.

"You wouldn't be the first person to try and bribe their way into my good books with sugar you know." Sharon took a bite of the cake and closed her eyes briefly.

"It's good isn't it?" Emma asked.

"Did you ask O'Reilly why he withheld information?" Sharon asked, putting her fork back on the plate.

Emma took a breath and looked out the window behind the captain before looking back at her.

"I did, but I think there's more to it—"

Sharon let out a sigh and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She wasn't in the mood to indulge another green DDA, and her patience with everything of late was waning.

For the last ten days she had been increasingly spending time on the search for Stroh. She had gone over every photo, read every report, and had several 3am conversations with various witness everywhere from Crete to Singapore.

The lack of sleep, and the appearance of Emma back in her life were making the knots in her shoulders tighter. Her usual swift approach to annoyances were a lot more potent than usual. She rubbed the top of her nose, and turned her head on an angle as she attempted a smile. "Just what did he say?"

Emma placed her hands on Sharon's desk. She held them firm and looked back at the captain.  
"He said that as an observer he initially didn't feel it was his place to interfere. It was only after you said Rollins could leave that he spoke up. He assumed that during your initial interview with Rollins that you would find something on him that would keep him in custody."

"That's a lot of assumptions to make Emma. Assumptions like that get people killed. We need to be informed. I don't like being railroaded. I need to be prepared, and be able to have some measure of control over the situation."

"I know it's irritating, but I think he was hoping to catch Rollins out on another phone call. All he heard was Rollins being aggressive on the phone and the money transfer. He kept asking me if our witness McKay knew Rollins, and had positively identified him as the suspect. He kept hinting at this idea that they knew each other. I think there is something else is going on with O'Reilly, I just can't figure it out."

"He told me the same thing when I grilled him. Your protege is up to something, and while you're trying to figure that out, I have to worry about protective custody for Ben McKay."

"How's Rusty?" Emma asked with little warning.

Sharon put down the files she had been shuffling about and looked blankly at Emma. "What?" she asked.

"Rusty? I asked Andrea about him, she seemed to think he was fine, but I'd rather hear it from you."

"He's fine."

"And you?"

"I don't think that's any of your business, and I am keeping an eye on Rusty."

"Eyes, I bet. I saw Lieutenant Cooper sneak in here earlier. "

Sharon stood up from her chair and Emma leaned back in response. Leaning across the desk Sharon looked down at the surface. She catalogued her words, counted to ten in her head, and let out a quiet sigh.

"His safety is no longer your concern," she said, silently adding the words 'if it ever was one' to her unspoken reply. "…you will keep what you think you know to yourself, is that clear?"

Emma was still sitting down, and while her previous encounter with Captain Raydor had cemented her feet to the floor, this time was different. The icy confidence of the captain's conviction seemed shaken. Her arms were strained against an unseen weight on her body. It seemed all her focus was in tightening her jaw and maintaining her balance as she leant against the desk.

"You're not the only one who's angry captain. You're not the only one who doesn't sleep at night, and Rusty wasn't the only one that was threatened."

Sharon looked directly at Emma, almost through her, then back again. She took another breath, a little harder this time, and felt her breath trip down her rib cage. Sharon pulled back again and sat down.

Emma wasn't keen to indulge the captain's scrutiny so she found herself gazing out the window and watching as Rusty walked into the murder room laughing at something that Lieutenant Flynn must have said. He was relaxed and exuded as much normality as he ever did. When Emma finally turned back inside the captain's office, the captain turned her gaze with her.

"You can't watch him forever. He's a smart kid - an adult actually. Eventually he's going to figure out what you're doing, and he's not going to appreciate your attempts to orchestrate his life."

Sharon picked up her fork and tapped it lightly against her plate. "He's my son. He might not understand, but at least he'll be around to have the privilege."

"Rusty is always trying to get more control over his life, and part of being in control is deciding who and what you're going to be afraid of."

Sharon sliced a portion of cake onto her fork. She looked back at Rios who had leaned closer in her chair. She was unusually keen to get a response. Sharon sat back in her chair and took the bite she held on her fork. She closed her eyes again, and then without warning dropped the fork on the plate. The noise made Emma jump slightly in her chair, but just as quickly she straightened her back and looked squarely at the captain.

"And what are you afraid of Ms Rios?" Sharon asked quietly.

Emma saw the glint of something in the captain's eye. She was tired, probably still angry, but there was a twinkle there too. Emma picked up her own plate and sliced a portion for herself.

"Have you ever met my mother?" she replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all knew who I was referring to when Sharon mentioned someone trying to bribe her with sugar ;)


	4. The Kickstarter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay on this chapter. I completely underestimated how busy the end of the work week was going to be. So here's to the weekend and chapter 4 :)
> 
> Edited to add: reading over this chapter I found an error which has now been fixed :)

"Coffee black, two sugars." Thomas said sliding the takeaway cup over to Lieutenant Provenza.

Provenza looked up from his papers to the all too young attorney sitting opposite him. "I didn't ask for coffee," he replied.

"No, but I think that down turned expression did." Thomas said quietly laughing to himself then thinking better of it as the older gentleman stared him down. "How long are you going to keep our witness Ben McKay in Interview room 2? I heard Buzz complaining that he kept tapping on the table quite a lot."

Provenza put his coffee down and leaned back in his chair. "He'll stay there until we can figure out what Dany Rollins wanted that money for."

Thomas leaned across the table and kept his voice low, "So you believe me then? About the phone call?"

"This coffee is too cold." Provenza replied, pushing the cup back to Thomas. "It's not up to you to form the conclusion Mr O'Reilly. You need to learn as an attorney you're here to take what we tell you and use it to your advantage. You don't get to decide who's guilty or not."

Emma had said he'd be difficult. She had told him that of all the problems she would encounter in this division getting Provenza on side would be the most challenging. Thomas lifted his head, he opened his mouth as if to say something back to the lieutenant when the door to the break room opened.

"We got the warrant on Dany Rollins' email account," Andy said as he joined the two men.

"Oh? Find anything interesting in the inbox other than requests for loans from mysterious Nigerian royalty." Provenza asked.

"Well kind of, have you ever heard of something called Kickstarter?"

Provenza looked blankly at his partner, while Thomas suddenly brimmed with interest. Turning towards the younger man, he grunted under his breath, and rubbed his palm against his face.

"If this is another thing I have to ask Tao about then you better do something about this coffee O'Reilly."

.

* * *

.

"Isn't that your second cup?" Billy asked as he went to pay the waitress.

"Third this morning, if you're keeping count." Andrea replied, taking another sip.

Billy raised his hands in a defensive gesture, before placing them back on the table.

"About this Stroh situation…" Billy began while Andrea looked at him from over her cup. "You could have taken the case you know, and—"

"And Emma could have been still languishing away in Robbery Homicide for the next three years." She interrupted. "There is no easing into the law when it comes to these big cases, and she wasn't going to be given the chance because she didn't fit some outdated criteria no one around here will admit to."

"Are we still talking about Emma here, or?" he asked.

"This isn't about me, " Andrea interrupted.

"Do you always think everything I say is about you?"

Andrea took a breath and tried to look past her old mentor. She pursed her lips and looked down at her cup but still felt his eyes watching her.

"I just think we need to all be a little better at adapting to change." she replied taking another sip of her coffee. She allowed her eyes to close briefly as the warm liquid made it's way down her throat.

"Change does require someone to loosen the reins a little," he replied.

"Have you seen the young defenders coming out of Wilson & Meyers? I think they've been trained by a DA recruiter. They seem to know most of our tactics before we're even aware we've used them. We need a few misfits roaming the halls. We can't afford to keep producing clones of ourselves to fill courtrooms."

"Oh I don't know. The world could well do with a few more Andrea Hobbs."

Andrea tilted her head to the side, rolling her eyes at her old friend, while he just laughed her reaction off.

"That's a lot of lunches you'd find yourself paying for." She replied.

He shrugged her comment off and they both found themselves blankly gazing around the place. The clock had ticked passed twelve some time ago, and the grill was no longer the sedated place for conversation. It was a popular eatery for young lawyers, marketers, and financial professionals, all wanting a cheap bite to eat before returning to the office for another grueling work day.

A couple of gentlemen bumped their way past Andrea and Billy, and they both decided to take their conversation to the outdoor area. Billy wasn't as enthusiastic about the move outside, and squinted against the harsh light of the sun as he put on his sunglasses.

"You've lived in LA for more than 40 years and you still hate the weather," Andrea commented, finding a place for them to sit in the shade.

"Give me the real seasons of New England over this perpetual sunshine." he replied.

Andrea shook her head as she sat down opposite her friend.

"So, Emma's protege - Thomas O'Reilly, you sure she's cut out for mentoring at this stage in her career?"

Andrea let out a sigh and let her eyes wander around the courtyard.

"There's something you're not telling me," he added.

She tapped her fingers against the table, before finally resting her hands on top of each other. "The thing is, he's not really her protege in the traditional sense. He's an observer."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she might become a mentor eventually, but she still has a lot to learn. Thomas O'Reilly looks young, but he's been a DDA working out of Nevada for the last ten years. He owes me a favour, and I think he's curious about moving out here. So I figure he can get a good insight for what we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis by following Emma around for a while."

"I don't know, this seems less about Thomas and more about you monitoring Emma - don't you trust her?"

"It's not like that. Thomas wants to see if working here is something he wants and I thought by working with Emma for a little while, maybe it will give him an idea of what being a DDA here is really like."

Billy took off his sunglasses, and rubbed his eyes as they readjusted to the light. He was trying to look her in the eyes but the sun behind her made his expression look confused, and agitated.

"I want to help her, but she can be difficult to help. It's not that I don't I trust her Billy, I do. But she's lost a lot of confidence and trust in herself, and lawyers without a strong ego get annihilated in the courtroom. Sometimes the only way to learn is by teaching others what you already know. I do want her to mentor someone eventually, but I needed her back now, and Thomas needed to learn the ropes so..."

Billy noticed the waitress approaching their table and passed her his credit card before Andrea got a chance to sneak a peak at the bill. While the waitress scanned his credit card Billy watched his friend from across the table. There wasn't much she hadn't told him over the years, and he knew that the woman in front of him had always been driven. In recent years he'd begun to see something change in her- her drive now included others. For Andrea it wasn't enough for her to be accomplished, she also needed to see that success in others. He just wasn't sure her approach would bring about the results she was after.

"Stroh knew about Bradac," he said.

Andrea scrunched her eyes as she sat forward, "what do you mean he knew about Bradac?"

"He had contacts, ways of doing research on everyone. He knew that Bradac would push Emma to go hard on a death penalty conviction and that ultimately it would end up with some kind of deal. He used it against her for his own purposes. It's not hard to use stubbornness against a person. Stroh knew Emma wouldn't believe him about the murders, and he knew making her look foolish would make her easy for manipulation. He could have easily seen any statement made by Bradac and put it together for himself."

"So you're implying…"

"I'm implying, that no one with a background in Internal affairs is going to go easy on what they see as the licentious corruption of those appointed to the law. If they had just started with a deal in the first place Stroh wouldn't have had as much room to manoeuvre."

"So Emma gets railroaded, so Bradac can teach the rest of the law profession a lesson - turn against the law like Stroh and face the harshest punishment available."

"Hey it looks good in the polls."

Andrea stood up, and Billy followed suit. He hadn't told her anything she hadn't already considered. She knew the law was as much about politics as it was about justice. While she didn't like to admit it, everyone was the player or the pawn at some point in this game.

"Bradac's need to punish the fallen attorney didn't seem to matter when he saw an opportunity to get more information from him. I guess I'm asking the question we've all asked at one point…"

Billy stopped and turned towards Andrea.

"Bad men always know how to find each other. When do we stop rewarding them for their poor choice in friends?"

.

* * *

.

"I don't get it. Are you saying Rollins started a…what did you call this thing again?" Provenza asks.

"A Kickstarter," Tao replies.

"Right, a Kickstarter to teach our victim a lesson. What happened to raising money to help a third world country, or curing cancer? We now have people donating their change to kill each other? And here sits my retirement fund with barely fifteen bucks to its name."

Thomas looked over at the jar the older detective was shaking. He hoped Lieutenant Provenza wasn't depending too heavily on the jar because at present it was less than half filled. He wondered how often the old guy counted it, and if he would notice if he slipped in a twenty while no one was looking.

"Well not quite. Kickstarter is primarily used by creatives to fund music, video games new technology, and entertainment—"

"So is this some sort of reality TV crap gone wrong then?" Provenza asked, shuffling his jar to the other side of his desk, away from the prying eyes of O'Reilly.

"More like a movie actually" Flynn piped in. "According to the project page Rollins wanted to fund a movie called 'The Storm That Cometh', about a group of different people who were all seeking revenge on the same irritating man. The page goes into great detail to explain just what makes this man so irritating—"

"Oh wow he's one of those people who chew their food loudly at the cinema." Buzz chimed in, reading the description on the iPad over Andy's shoulder.

Provenza cleared his throat and shook his head, glancing sideways at the young tech.

"Anyway, so people - losers I imagine, put forward money to fund the movie, and how much money you donate determines what kind of reward you can get. Like a $5 pledge will get you a poster, but anything over $100 gets you a part in the movie. But here's the interesting thing…" Andy says as he moves to the front of the murder room. "If you pledge $1000 or more you are up for the role of the killer. So maybe someone did pledge that amount and got a little more than they bargained for."

"Well if you look at the trajectory of the bullet that hit our victim it looks like the weapon was fired by someone not expecting a real bullet to be fired." Tao added.

"So you're saying someone won the part of a killer in a movie, only for the movie to be playing out in real life?" Sykes, asked.

Provenza tapped on the picture of the victim hanging on the whiteboard. "Intended or not, dead all the same." he added.

"Do we know why Rollins would go to all this effort to get our victim killed?" Emma asked.

"Maybe your victim wasn't the intended target," Thomas added.

Everyone, including Emma turned around to the young observer who along with Rusty, had both entered the room with a sandwich and drink in each hand. Rusty had gone with the young DDA to find some lunch and stood in the background unsure of if he should say goodbye to Thomas or simply leave the room quietly.

"What if Rollins was trying to get McKay killed, and that's why he was on the phone earlier - he was trying to finish the job." Thomas continued.

"Oh really, O'Reilly. We don't know the victim wasn't set up to stop there. His car broke down and by sheer coincidence so did his cell phone - standard horror movie plot. As for the motive? It's in the Kickstarter list - it just looks like Rollins has a flair for drama." Provenza added.

Sharon shook her head and moved between the two men briefly before making her way to the whiteboard. "Has anyone contacted Kickstarter to find out who our bidders were?"

"Yes Captain, the information is just coming through now. It looks like none of the bids were over $20, and Rollins shut down the Kickstarter page before it hit its 30 day deadline." Tao replied.

"So how do you even know this Kickstarter was the set up for the murder?" Emma asked.

"Parts of the script were leaked online" Tao answered as he turned his computer screen towards Emma. "The death scene included the warehouse, and the same type of gun used by the killer. The weird thing is that apart from a few set up emails from Kickstarter and the odd bit of spam, there isn't much in Rollins email account to indicate he was communicating with anyone else- at least nothing I've recovered just yet."

"So what are you saying?" Emma asked.

"Rollins created a Kickstarter to fund a movie about a murder, but instead of it being a work of fiction our actor actually killed someone. The problem is, without a communication trail we can't connect Rollins to the victim or the shooter." Tao replied.

"Rollins is using someone here. But without the trail there's no proof." Andy added.

.

* * *

.

"Hello," Andrea said as she picked up her cell phone.

"Hi, it's me Emma."

"I have caller ID Rios." Andrea replied.

"Right."

"How's your first day back at work?" Andrea could hear Emma trying to contain a frustrated sigh on the other side of the line. "That bad huh?"

"I've had worse. I guess there's something I needed to ask you about - about Thomas." Emma replied.

It was unusually quite through the phone line, and she could hear Emma take a deep breath.

"You encouraged me to be diplomatic, but you neglected to tell me something else."

Andrea took a deep breath of her own. She knew Emma was smart, but she'd hoped Thomas would be smarter and play a little dumb. She hoped he hadn't revealed himself, at least not yet, but she wasn't sure. "What do you mean?"

"Just how infuriating I must have been, or probably still am." Emma replied.

"Wait, what?" Andrea asked.

"He interrupts, he makes assumptions, and he forgets to pass on vital information. You're the closest thing I've had to a mentor in the last few months and if Thomas is this annoying to me and everyone else, I can't imagine how bad I must be."

Andrea bit her lip down to prevent herself from laughing in any way.

"Ah Andrea, are you there?" Emma asked wondering why the line had gone quiet.

Andrea took a breath and pushed her hair back behind her ear. "Oh I'm here, I'm just thinking."

"Oh?"

Andrea looked at the wall opposite her. There wasn't much space that wasn't occupied by a certificate or qualification, and they all hung along with a thin layer of dust. She looked at her desk and noticed only one or two photo frames. One of her with her parents at graduation, and another with Billy on her first day at the DDA's office. "I was thinking about the different relationships we have with people. Sometimes the ones we value the most are also the ones that we often grunt and complain about."

Emma scoffed at the comment as she looked blankly through the windows of the break room. There wasn't anything to see but an empty hallway filled with light bouncing from window to window. She remembered the first time she walked down that hallway, how big it felt, how determined she was to hold her head high and to answer every question she hadn't been asked. She remembered how silly she felt when Provenza and the others would point out her moments of arrogance. Then she remembered her times here with Andrea, how she would glance at her sideways, tipping her head in a manner that was supportive but warning her just the same. She smiled at the thought, and felt grateful for the patience she had been offered. "Good to know I've given you something to complain about."

Andrea smiled to herself. As she parted her lips to say something else she was interrupted by another noise coming down the phone line.

"You son of a bitch! What are you doing here?! Where is my damn money?!"

"Ah Emma, what's going on?" Andrea asked getting out of her seat trying to listen closer down the phone line.

"Oh crap." Emma replied moving out of the break room to look down the hallway. "It looks like Thomas and our witness have just run into the suspect. This is not the sort of annoying I signed up for."

"Yes, I agree" Andrea replied rubbing her hand against her brow. "There's annoying, then there's just plain—"

"O'Reilly what the hell have you done now!" Provenza yelled down the hallway.

Andrea put her keys in her bag, and closed the lid on her laptop, "I'm on my way."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my main reasons for starting this story was to actually explain a couple of questions I kept seeing people ask about Emma.
> 
> The first was why Emma was chosen to prosecute the Stroh trial (considering her age and relative inexperience), and the second was to give a bit more context to Emma's decision making during the season three final.
> 
> When I rewatched her episodes I also found frequent references to Emma's 'boss' (they never named him/her) playing a bigger role in her decision making, so I decided to make him into the character I've discussed above - Louis Bradac. If you have also had these questions about Emma, then hopefully what I have explored in this chapter has helped give you some context to this character.


	5. Arrested Development

"You have the right to remain silent, anything you do or say—" Andy begun.

"I'm not arrested, he's arrested!" yelled Danny Rollins as he tried to poke Ben McKay.

Andy and Julio were given the task of holding back the riled up man as he continued to lunge at their witness. A witness who seemed equally annoyed at Rollins' presence.

"Can I finish the Miranda warning please?" Andy asked.

"Stick your warning!" Rollins said as he tried once again to lunge at McKay.

Rusty, who had been keeping a low profile in the background leaned over to Provenza and asked, "Isn't he supposed to you know, be quiet so he doesn't incriminate himself?"

Provenza scoffed quietly and whispered to the kid. "Just because we give him the Miranda warning, doesn't mean he's going to shut up."

"You son of a bitch, after everything I've done for you, you'd actually hire someone to kill me? Too chicken shit to kill me yourself then?" McKay replied, trying to lunge himself towards the man while Amy and Tao held him back.

Sharon and Thomas had been watching the men exchange barbs for the last five minutes. Her eyes darted between the two of them. At one point she saw Emma move forward to say something, but she put her hand up in warning, and the younger woman backed off.

Emma stepped back and turned around to see the startled expression of Andrea Hobbs. "Should I let them know you're here?" Emma whispered to her.

"No, no, let's see how this little confrontation pans out." Andrea replied.

"Wait, no one said anything about a hired killer," Thomas added, as everyone turned around and glared at him.

Provenza raised his eyebrows at the young attorney as he pushed himself off his desk and walked towards Rollins and McKay. "I don't like agreeing with lawyers McKay, but he does have a point. No one said anything to you about Rollins hiring a hitman to kill you or the victim. What's got you leaping to that conclusion?"

McKay pulled in his bottom lip which caused his chin to protrude towards Rollins. "He wants my money, I know it! He's after my share of the—"

"Oh shut your stupid mouth you blithering idiot!" Rollins spat back.

"What money?" Sharon asked, stepping up to stand beside Provenza.

"I'm not an idiot! You're the one who used the same password on everything since 1998. Password123, what kind of idiot uses password in their password?" McKay replied.

"Ah captain, that is the password to Mr Rollins email account." Tao added, as he pulled McKay's arm back into line.

Sharon turned and walked over to Tao's open laptop and read over the list of emails they had been given access to.

Dany Rollins shook his head in frustration. "So I'm the idiot here?! Yet you've just admitted to knowing my password, and by the look of Captain, eh what's your name again?"

"Raydor, Mr Rollins - Captain Raydor," she replied.

Dany sniffed, scratched his nose and pointed an accusing finger and McKay. "By the look of Madame Captain Raydor there you've just admitted to breaking into my email account - what's that about then? Can't afford your own subscription to Netflix?"

Sharon raised her eyebrows as she looked over at Andy who seemed to be mouthing the words 'Madam Captain' and trying in vain not to look too amused.

"Tell me Mr Rollins, what exactly were you doing at the warehouse that day?" Andy asked while Thomas stepped forward to stand next to Provenza.

"I already told the old guy that," he replied as Provenza looked over at Andy, and Andy rolled his eyes at his partner.

"Yes but now we know what you told Lieutenant Pro-Ven-Za…" Andy said as he emphasised his partner's name. "…was complete crap. So seeing as how your friend here is looking a little less than reliable as a witness, maybe you want to indulge us all with the truth for a change."

Dany looked up at Flynn and he loosened his shoulders and sighed. "Alright, but don't laugh."

Andy nodded his head and Dany looked around the room as everyone but his old friend McKay nodded in agreement. "I was supposed to meet someone there for a date. You know, from Tinder."

McKay couldn't help it and began laughing, while Rollins glared in his direction. "What? it's hilarious. No woman is going to date you. You look like Mr Potato Head and have the personality of a used car salesmen. You rate women on a scale from 1 to 10, your idea of highbrow is collecting European beer cans - many of which you got out of the trash, you scratch yourself in public—"

"You chew your food loudly at the cinema," Buzz offered.

McKay raised his hand in agreement. "See, even these people who've only been stuck with you for the last six hours have you figured out."

"Actually Mr McKay," Thomas began as Buzz passed him the iPad. "We didn't need to figure it out. You left that particular description as well as a range of other less desirable qualities on your Kickstarter page." Thomas added, passing the iPad to Rollins to read.

While Dany Rollins read over the extensive list of ways the fictional version of himself was irritating, Ben McKay watched with trepidation as Rollins who he had been so ready to label an idiot figured out his plan.

"I don't suppose you feel like hearing the Miranda warning Lieutenant Flynn was so keen on reading to your friend here?" Amy asked.

"I don't need to hear the warning. I've seen enough cop shows, I know what you're going to say," McKay replied.

"You, you started a Kickstarter to get me killed?" Rollins stammered out, looking back and forth between Ben and the iPad.

"No, no, no. The Kickstarter was just to scare you so you'd back off trying to take my share of the money. They weren't supposed to shoot to kill—"

"Well they didn't, they shot the other guy. The guy I thought was supposed to be a woman named Linda, but I guess you set that one up to." Rollins interrupted.

"Yeah well, I didn't know he was going to turn up. There was a girl, but she was only supposed to shoot you in the leg, not some other idiot in the chest. I sent a second re-write of that scene! God! Does no one respect the process?"

"Who was the girl? Was she cute? She wasn't involved with one of the Marly brothers was she?"

Thomas looked to his side, and from the corner of his eye saw Andrea walk up beside him.

"Oh please like I'm going to get them involved. There were plenty of people more than willing to kill your character once they read that page. Face facts Dany, you're no Mr Congeniality."

Rollins opened his mouth and narrowed his gaze.

"Enough!" said Sharon as she walked over to Mr McKay. "Lieutenant Provenza, join me for a moment please."

Captain Raydor walked over to the whiteboard, nodding at Andrea as she passed. "I think we have enough to arrest Mr McKay, and at least a few things to question Mr Rollins about. I want you and Amy to take them both, along with Emma to interview room 2 and find out who the budding actor was that shot our victim."

"Will do Captain," he replied walking over to Emma. "Right Rios, get Sykes. We're taking Tweedledee and Tweedledum to interview room 2, and have them reveal to us the puppet in this sideshow."

"Right," Emma replied, nodding at Andrea as she followed Amy and Provenza leading the still squabbling pair to their interview room.

Thomas watched Emma leave, jutting his head forward, seemingly eager to watch what would happen next but unsure if he was allowed to join them.

"Thomas," Andrea said trying to get his focus back to her. "You can join us in electronics and watch."

Thomas turned his head to the curious faces of Andrea and Captain Raydor. Andrea's eyes were wide and she looked like she wanted to ask him a question. While the captain's eyes just narrowed at him with her arms folded in front of her.

"Yeah about that, I'm going to need to talk to you about all this at some point," he replied.

Sharon stepped forward, "She's not the only one you're going to have to talk to, Mr O'Reilly."

Thomas looked from Andrea to the Captain. "I get it Captain, but I…we, really need to be in there before Emma makes a deal with one of them."

Captain Raydor looked over to Andrea who seemed to be hiding something of her own. She didn't like all this deception amongst her coworkers. It was one thing having to deal with it from suspects and witnesses, but there should be a certain amount of trust between the people you work with.

"After you," she replied to Thomas.

Thomas O'Reilly scurried down the hallway like a mouse that had seen the cheese at the end of the maze. Andrea was just about to follow him albeit at a slower pace when the captain put her hand on her arm. "Not so fast, I'd like an explanation - quickly."

"Alright, Thomas isn't here as Emma's protege. He's not even from LA."

Sharon took a breath and turned her head to the side. "I don't suppose he's from Nevada?"

"How did you?"

"He knew about Rollins and McKay before we did. He kept hinting to us that they knew each other without being very clear on how he knew that. I got suspicious. At first I had the terrible feeling that your observer may be involved in the crime in some way, only for me to discover something worse…"

"Oh?"

Sharon titled her head and smirked at herself before turning back to Andrea, "he's been a qualified attorney for years. He may look like Napoleon Dynamite's lost cousin, but the man has been navigating the law for the last ten years - in Nevada of all places."

"Ah Captain," Tao said as he handed her an iPad. "You may want to look at this. I managed to get someone to take a deeper look into Rollins' email account. There were some deleted emails we were able to restore, and not only did Rollins and McKay know each other, but they were both part of a gambling ring which was part of a very influential organised crime group operating out of Nevada."

"The Marly Brothers Crime Syndicate," Sharon read out loud.

"One of them did mention that group," Andrea added.

Andrea and Sharon looked up from the iPad and back at each other in one synchronous movement.

"Thomas did mention an ongoing organised crime ring he was trying to help prosecute - he did mention gambling." Andrea continued.

"I'll bet," Sharon replied. "Lieutenant Tao, can you get Emma out of the interview room and have her wait for us in electronics. We can't have her making a deal if Thomas O'Reilly already has another one in mind."

"Yes Captain," Tao nodded, as he turned to head off to find Emma.

"Thank you Captain." Andrea replied.

Sharon put her hand in the air, and shook her head before she looked back up at Andrea. She was smiling but it was restrained. She seemed sympathetic, yet surprised. "Don't thank me yet, you're the one who has to explain this to Rios."

.

* * *

.

"You used each other Mr Rollins. He may not have killed you, but you weren't far from offering him the same fate. Not to mention your questionable methods of acquiring this money you've both been fighting over." Thomas said as he collected the signed documents from Rollins and McKay.

After several hours of negotiations the two men decided to be uncharacteristically quiet. Thomas looked beside him at Lieutenant Provenza who nodded his head in appreciation.

"So you both agree on these terms? If you're able to provide extensive information on the Marly brothers crime syndicate that will help bring about their prosecution, then I will recommend reduced sentences."

"As long as it is no where near Nevada," Rollins added. "And I didn't exactly kill anyone so I don't want to be placed in the same place as this asshole."

McKay rolled his eyes. "Yeah cause I'd be real keen to share a cell with you Mr Potato Head."

Thomas cleared his throat. "Gentlemen please, don't use that kind of language in front of Lieutenant Provenza."

Rollins and McKay stared at the young attorney and over to the Lieutenant who was raising his hands in the air in acquiesce. "Manners will get you everywhere gentlemen. Now if you excuse us we need to speak to some of Mr O'Reilly's friends in Vegas before we can cement this deal."

Provenza and O'Reilly left the interview with papers in hand only to meet Andrea and Emma in the corridor. Provenza looked between the two women. Emma had her arms crossed with her shoulders pulled back. She was making small movements with her neck in an attempt to realign her posture to be as intimidating as possible. Andrea was not much different but her shoulders were looser and she seemed to be avoiding eye contact with the younger DDA beside her.

"Ah, it looks like this act of manslaughter and attempted murder may end up helping us put away the Marly brothers crime syndicate for a very long time." O'Reilly said as he passed Emma the papers.

"I'll be sure to tell that to the victim's family when these two morons are enjoying their stay in a minimum security facility on the east coast." Emma replied.

"Emma I didn't mean—" Thomas said.

Provenza tapped O'Reilly on the arm. "Listen kid, why don't we go call your pals in Nevada and get clearance on this deal of yours. I don't want these morons in our interview room longer than they need to be."

"Right," Thomas replied, looking between the two women.

"I need to talk to Captain Raydor. Ms Hobbs I'm guessing you want to help Thomas with this little…what are we calling this now? Cross-state agreement?" Emma turned to Andrea and passed her the papers Thomas had given her.

"I guess," she replied.

Without taking her eyes off Andrea, Emma pressed her lips together and nodded. She didn't notice Provenza and O'Reilly walk off quietly, she just looked at her friend. She wanted to say something else, but she wasn't sure it was going to come out right. There was a lump in a throat she was used to associating with other people. There were words she could use, but they were also associated with other people.

"I…" Andrea started.

"I need to see Captain Raydor," Emma reintegrated.

"Sure," Andrea replied. She watched Emma walk down the hallway and felt a sickening weight settle in her stomach.

.

* * *

.

"Captain Raydor," Emma said as she gently tapped on the Captain's door.

The captain looked up from her paper work and nodded for Emma to enter. She watched Emma as she entered, and she leaned her head to the side as she noticed her closing the door. She still hadn't said anything by the time she took a seat, she simply clasped her hands in her lap, and took a breath before looking across at the captain.

"No cake this time?" Sharon asked.

"No, I'm not here to grovel for your attention." Emma replied, maintain her focus while the Captain raised a strategic eyebrow at her. "But I want you to know something," she added.

"And what would that be Ms Rios?" Sharon asked, leaning her head forward and resting it on her hand. She knew the situation between her and Andrea hadn't gone as Andrea had planned but she expected a reaction filled with fury and righteous indignation, not the quiet, stern presence of the woman before her.

"I want you to know that I did everything within my power to get the best outcome in Stroh's prosecution. There were limits to what I could do, and I know I was manipulated by him, and others - but I did the best job I knew how to do. I don't need you to understand, I just want you to know it."

Sharon looked across her desk and picked up a blue manilla folder. She rubbed her fingers across the surface and looked up at Emma. Standing up, Sharon walked around the table and took a seat beside her. "You're right," she replied.

Emma's close proximity to Sharon made it even more important for her not to show a reaction, but she couldn't help how her eyes widened at that statement.

"I'm having Rusty followed." Sharon opened the folder and showed Emma the surveillance pictures Lieutenant Cooper and his team had taken of Rusty. "It's invasive. I keep tabs on him wherever he goes and I spend the few moments of free time I have with my son pretending that I'm hearing stories about his day for the first time."

Emma looked up at the Captain and noticed the way she struggled to hold her head straight. How she bit her bottom lip back after the words came out, and how she looked at the folder of pictures with more than a little sense of shame about them.

"I know I can't keep doing this forever. At some point I need to let go, but I'm a long way from that right now - I need to know he's ok." The captain didn't try to hide how she swallowed against her words, or how stiffly she breathed in when she tried to reassert her posture. "Sometimes," she began. "Sometimes it takes a while to learn how to care about people. We make mistakes because in this line of work it's easy to confuse helping with protection, and protection with control. I know you tried Emma - we all did. The reality is, we're all just trying to protect the ones we love and we don't always get it right."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If like me you are also in Voyager fandom I hope you picked up on the “Madame Captain” reference there. This chapter was definitely the most fun to write. One more chapter to post, and then my little story is complete :)


	6. Checkmate

"Rook takes bishop," Andy said as he slid the piece across towards its target.

Andrea sighed as she watched her piece move off the board. "I don't think I'm enjoying this game as much as I used to," she said as she moved her pawn to another square.

"We could try checkers for a while, but Provenza tells me that's your usual game with him - maybe a card game?" Andy suggested.

Andrea tilted her head to one side, while Andy sat up a little and leaned forward. "Am I?..Did you need me to go?" He asked.

Andrea snapped out of her stupor and straightened herself in her chair. "No sorry, it's not you, it's me-"

"So you're breaking up with me?"

"Wait, what?"

Andy smirked at her and poured some water for the both of them. "A joke Hobbs. Rusty tells me you play chess with him too, and I thought I was the only one."

Andrea scoffed a laugh at him and shook her head. "No Lieutenant. I only play with you when I want to win."

Andy clutched at his heart and shrugged, "I might just surprise you one day."

"Not today I'm afraid - checkmate."

"Really?" He asked leaning forward to check his moves. He opened his mouth to say something, then looked over at her smiling and closed his mouth again. "I thought you weren't enjoying the game?" He asked.

Andrea took a breath and rubbed the back of her neck. "I wasn't referring to chess."

"Oh?"

"Don't you ever get sick of a life compromising with idiots and assholes? People who at every opportunity find a way of getting away with some of the most hideous crimes only because they're fortunate enough to snitch on someone who is even more hideous?"

Andy tilted his head and scratched the back of his ear. "It bothers me, but lots of things about the system bother me. I guess it's about balance though."

"What do you mean?"

"Well it's like what I've told you before, when you have to choose, always choose the idiot over the asshole - and I guess you just try and balance the rest of it out by spending more time with people you like."

"It's that easy?" She asks.

"No, but when you can't control everything you have to decide when to keep things simple."

Andrea smiled at Andy. Over the last couple of years she'd built a rapport with Captain Raydor's team. She played tennis with Amy, drinks with Sharon and Morales, museum trips with Mike, checkers with Provenza, and there was that one night out on the town with Sanchez and Buzz she doesn't have much memory of, but of all the team she saw regularly she was most surprised by how much she enjoyed her time with Andy.

He was certainly not someone she initially thought much of, but he had a way of cutting through the crap that she respected. In her line of work where bullshit had become a second language, he had a manner as blunt as her own that highlighted a genuine sense of frustration at a world that didn't play fair. When the frustration became too much, she knew with Andy she was able to hide her annoyances behind sarcasm and jokes at his expense. He'd feign hurt, and she'd feign remorse - this was their thing.

Andrea started putting the pieces of the chess board away and Andy passed her his pieces."I'm going to shock you, but I'm going to take your advice," She said. "And in the spirit of keeping things simple, next time you're here we should try UNO."

"Taking my advice, and giving me a chance to beat you at something? Should I be concerned?" Andy replied moving the chess set to Andrea's shelf.

Andrea pointed a finger at him and laughed, "you should always be concerned."

"Another warrant?"" Emma asked, having entered the room while they were both too busy laughing to notice.

Andy and Andrea both turned in the direction of the young DDA and Andy quickly looked back to Andrea to gauge her reaction. "Ah no just bringing over some paperwork" he replied, and sensing some awkwardness he started to make his way to the door. "I better get back to the office. It's nice to see you Emma, and I look forward to our next game Andrea. I intend to win next time."

"What you intend, and what actually happens are two different things Lieutenant," she replied bending her head around the corner to watch him leave.

He just smiled, and shook his head as he walked back down the corridor. Emma watched him as he went then closed the door behind her.

"You know he was talking to Rusty about trying to beat you at chess right?" Emma said as she sat on the edge of Andrea's desk.

"Yes I gathered that from the very familiar moves he was trying to play earlier. That's the problem when you play these games with the same people all the time, you learn quite quickly what their favourite tactics are, and when they've picked up a few new ones." Andrea replied picking up the glasses and jug on her table and moving them back to her desk.

"I guess that's the difference between you and me. I haven't been around long enough to learn everyone's standard tactics." Emma replied crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Andrea narrowed her brow and walked over to Emma. "Is that a comment on my age?" she asked.

"It could be, it could also be a comment on my lack of experience. That was your concern wasn't it? That after one defeat I wouldn't return because I haven't had enough experience losing?"

Andrea slumped her shoulders as she sat on the edge of the desk beside Emma. "I'm not really sure, I just knew I was concerned, and maybe…" she began, turning towards Emma and tipping her head to the side. "Maybe I just wanted a way to remind you that you're good at your job. You were living at your mother's place, you weren't styling your hair the way you usually do and you slouched—"

"I slouched?" Emma asked furrowing her eyebrows at the comment.

"For most people that's normal, but you're not most people. Your appearance is like a kind of armour for you. Granted you could find other ways of expressing yourself, but this is who you are, and you weren't yourself then. It's not just how you appeared, or your posture, but how resigned you were to taking smaller cases. You used to fight to always take on the bigger case. You got scared Emma, and I can't work with scared."

"I wasn't scared, and if I was, then it's my choice to be afraid. You can't control everything." Emma replied.

Andrea looked over at Emma, she sighed and hung her face low while she clutched her elbows in her hands. "This is going to sound terrible…" Andrea begun as Emma looked up at her. "Remember how unenthusiastic your dog seemed at the prospect of moving until you showed him the lead?"

"Yeah," Emma replied looking blankly at Andrea.

"Well let's call Thomas O'Reilly the lead that got you out the door. I guess I figured if I took the attention off you and onto someone else then maybe you'd be reminded of what you're capable of - and the more I think about this analogy, the more I wished I'd kept my mouth shut."

Emma furrowed her eyebrows together. She was quiet for a moment, staring blankly at the carpet, then all of a sudden she burst out in laughter. Andrea looked to her side then back to Emma, as she pulled her head back trying to figure out why this was at all funny to the younger woman.

"Ah, should I be concerned?" Andrea asked sliding a little further down the desk away from Emma.

Emma stopped laughing, took a breath and straightened herself against the desk before looking at Andrea again. The extra oxygen and corrected posture didn't seem to help, because when she looked at her colleague again she continued to laugh.

"I…" Andrea started, then on finding the young woman's laughter contagious joined in. After a couple of minutes the two women straightened themselves out and the laughter died down.

"I'm sorry," Andrea said.

"I know," Emma replied. "You were trying to help me, and maybe I needed that help. But the difference between me and Herbie is that Herbs knew he was being led. I may need the wheelbarrow occasionally, but I always walk on my own."

Andrea nodded at Emma while she bit her lip.

"You're picturing me in that damn wheelbarrow aren't you?" Emma asked.

Andrea continued to nod her head, all the time biting her bottom lip even harder while her eyes grew wider. She finally let go of her expression and allowed herself a chance to laugh again before straightening herself out again.

"I've left some things at my mother's. I wasn't lying about needing to keep an eye on her. She can be a bit over the top at times, cleaning and fussing about - I think it's her way of dealing with things. She once woke me up at 3am rearranging furniture in the lounge room. You think the disco was bad, this was during her Nickelback phase." Emma said shaking her head at the memory. "I think I'll stay there for a few days a week until I think she's ok again," she added.

Andrea nodded her head. She placed her hand on Emma's arm for a moment, then feeling a little awkward about it she let it go.

Emma felt the lack of connection immediately and watched as Andrea's hand left. She then returned her gaze to the front of the room.

"You know if you need someone to walk your dog occasionally I'd be happy to help," Andrea offered.

Emma turned her head back to Andrea, "you know that's a two man job right?"

"Then I guess you can tag along, but when it comes time to lifting the old man," Andrea replied.

"You'll take the front," Emma replied for her.

Andrea smiled, and nodded her head, "You're catching on."

"Well I am here to learn," Emma replied as she shuffled herself along the desk, closing the distance between her and her friend. "I still... have a lot to learn," she reiterated.

Andrea looked down at the little space that now sat between them on the desk. She considered the distance, or lack of it as she made her eyes rise back to Emma's. "Yes, you do," she replied, as she watched Emma furrow her eyebrows. "But you aren't alone in that," Andrea continued.

Emma smiled and nodded her head at her friend, and as Emma turned to face the front of the room once more she felt Andrea's shoulder lightly tap her own.

_To education, and all the places it may take us._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End! 
> 
> In case you were wondering the title of the story “To catch a cloud and pin it down” (like my last Emma-Andrea story) also comes from a line in “Maria (How do I solve a problem like Maria?)” from The Sound of Music. I figured it fit with the themes I was exploring about control and choice.
> 
> Once again thank you for taking the time to read my story. It was a personal challenge to myself to see if I could do it, and I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it :)


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